Morning.
France versus Senegal started out in a fun way, with William Saliba starting, but as the first half went on, the French were a bit wasteful and by half-time I was not enjoying it as a game of football. However, unlike the Japan v Netherlands game the other night, this time I resisted the temptation to just go to bed, and thankfully was rewarded with a much better second period.
Michael Olise, a player I coveted greatly when he was at Crystal Palace, decided someone had to take the game by the scruff of the neck, and he dialed it up big time. One run and pass for Kylian Mbappe was sensationally good, but the Real Madrid striker’s touch – not for the first time in the game either – let him down.
If at first you don’t succeed etc, and again Olise played a great pass behind the defence, this time Mbappe didn’t need to take a touch, hitting it first time across the keeper for 1-0. He then turned provider for substitute Bradley Barcola, linked with Arsenal this summer and a player I’d quite like to see in red and white because that injection of pure pace feels like something we don’t really have in this squad. The run from the PSG winger was scintillating, the pass incisive, the dinked finish was excellent.
Senegal got one back in injury time, the keeper ought to have done better though, and while the commentators were still wondering if they could grab another to claim an unlikely comeback, Mbappe made sure of the points with a brilliant strike from 30+ yards. I am slightly looking at the keeper because he was such a long way out, but he hit it so cleanly it flew past Edouard Mendy to make it 3-1.
I guess it’s a game which sums up France in a way. Poor in the first half, and you couldn’t help but think this was a team playing in the image of Didier Deschamps. 50 shades of beige. Dour. Uninspired. In a world of incredible French cooking, he serves you a dried out old chicken leg. His favourite sandwich is a jambon–beurre but without the jambon or the buerre.
Then the sheer talent they possess took over. Mbappe, Olise, Dembele, Doue, Barcola, these lads can produce moments that transcend the Deschampisifcation of the team. Perhaps I’m doing old Didier a Didservice here, because he’s generally been pretty effective as France manager, but some managers can get your fire going. He comes along and pisses on the fire after drinking three pints of cranberry juice to ensure he’s got enough piss to extinguish it, then makes everyone huddle around a two-bar electric heater because that’s the most efficient way to keep people warm.
Anyway, a good start for France, and at that point I went to bed because as much as I love Martin Odegaard, Norway v Iraq wasn’t singing to me. Erling Haaland scored twice, the Arsenal captain got an assist for the third goal with a good corner delivery which saw defender Leo Ostigard head home. They ended up winning 4-1, Odegaard played 81 minutes before being replaced by Patrick Berg.
There was no Arsenal interest in the other two games, but Lionel Messi got a hat-trick as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0, making him – at 38 – the oldest player to ever do that at a World Cup. The first goal was sensational, the second nicely opportunistic, and the third the most classic Messi goal ever. A shot you look at and wonder ‘How has he scored so easily from there?’, but his super power when it comes to finishing has always been the perfect combination of power and precision and this was another example of that.
Some will say you have to take into account the opposition, but I remember being at the Camp Nou when we played Mikael Silvestre in central defence and he scored four goals in one game against us, so he’s proved time and again he can do it against the very best. Genuinely though, the greatest player that ever lived, and there’s nobody who even comes close, imo.
The final game saw Austria beat Jordan 2-1, the opening goal from Romano Schmid was very nice. Although they were pegged back to 1-1, Marko Arnautovic, a player who must have been born in the same timeline as Adrian Rabiot – as they both feel like they’ve been around since about 1993 – scored a second for the Austrians. I’m not linking to it though, because he’s far too Stoke for a Wednesday morning. They sealed the game 3-1 through a very late Arnautovic penalty.
Today, there’s an ‘early’ game in this part of the World as Portugal take on DR Congo, and I have to say the lack of consistency in kick-off times is a bit of a pain. Some days there’s an early game, yesterday there wasn’t. After that, there’s big Arsenal interest as our England contingent of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke could all feature as they take on Croatia. Let’s hope they all come through unscathed. Then overnight Panama face Ghana, and Colombia play Uzbekistan.
Right, let’s leave it there for now, more on the Arsenal boys tomorrow and we’ll get an Arsecast out for you as well.
Have a good one.
